Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) stock is taking a hit after Roaring Kitty, whose real name is Keith Gill, disclosed a 6.6% stake in the company. That’s equivalent to about 9 million shares. CHWY stock is down 5% today.
Gill gained stardom among retail investors in 2021 after revealing a position in GameStop (NYSE:GME) amid the meme stock craze. He returned to social media this year after a nearly three-year hiatus, disclosing a position in the video game retailer again. Gill may have sold out of some or all of his GME position to fund his CHWY buy.
Unlike GameStop, Gill hasn’t shared his investment thesis for Chewy. Last month, he hinted at his investment by posting an image of a cartoon dog with its tongue hanging out.
Gill’s stake cements him as the fourth-largest shareholder of the pet supplies e-commerce company.
During the first quarter, Chewy’s revenue grew by 3.1% to $2.88 billion, while its GAAP EPS was 15 cents. The company has been profitable for every quarter since the first quarter of 2022, except for one quarter. These profits contributed to a $500 million buyback from Chewy’s largest shareholder.
“Chewy’s increasing profitability and free cash flow generation enables the Company to further optimize its capital allocation strategy through this transaction, which comes in addition to the recently announced $500 million share repurchase program,” said Chewy.
5 Investors Betting Big on CHWY Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During Q1, 348 13F filers disclosed a stake in CHWY, a decline of 21 filers, or 5.69%, compared to the previous quarter. In total, these filers own 100.65 million shares, down by 1.32%.
Hedge funds, a subset of institutional investors, conveyed a more bullish stance. While the number of CHWY hedge fund owners declined by 5.49% to 86, the total number of shares owned increased by 27.65% to 27.61 million.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Chewy’s top shareholders:
- Argos Holdings: 275.98 million shares. Argos sold 22.87 million shares on June 26 and 27, of which Chewy bought back 17.55 million of those shares.
- Baillie Gifford: 19.81 million shares. Baillie bought 1.33 million shares during Q1.
- Vanguard: 10.48 million shares. Vanguard bought 875,532 shares during Q1.
- Roaring Kitty/Keith Gill: 9 million shares. Gill’s position is accurate as of June 24.
- Voya Investment Management: 5.59 million shares. Voya sold 967,402 shares during Q1.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
